Home charger woes
Discussion
REALIST123 said:
Yes, perhaps, but that’s not what I asked.
Where do you get a free or very low cost charger install?
As far as I could see you'll always end up with £300ish being the charge to you on top of the OLEV grant - what I would say is try to future proof by going for the 32a version so you've a chance to charge at 7kW as if you ever have a full electric car you're not going to be wanting to leave it perhaps 14-21hrs on a 3.6kW connection!Where do you get a free or very low cost charger install?
How long until the grant runs out will be interesting to see
Butter Face said:
REALIST123 said:
Yes, perhaps, but that’s not what I asked.
Where do you get a free or very low cost charger install?
If you buy a ZOE, Renault pay the extra cost on top of the gov grant for the charger (retail customers)Where do you get a free or very low cost charger install?
I’ll definitely put a 7kW charger in if we get the car, which depends on the government grant for the car being maintained, and the charger being a straightforward install.
REALIST123 said:
I’ll definitely put a 7kW charger in if we get the car, which depends on the government grant for the car being maintained, and the charger being a straightforward install.
As someone said above, I think Kia should already have applied for the grant if you've placed a firm order. Frimley111R said:
Given the cost of such a car are you really saying that not getting £500 off a charger would put you off buying an EV completely??
No, I wasn’t saying that. I was referring to the possibility of not being able to fit such a charger without significant changes to our electrical system. kambites said:
REALIST123 said:
I’ll definitely put a 7kW charger in if we get the car, which depends on the government grant for the car being maintained, and the charger being a straightforward install.
As someone said above, I think Kia should already have applied for the grant if you've placed a firm order. REALIST123 said:
kambites said:
REALIST123 said:
I’ll definitely put a 7kW charger in if we get the car, which depends on the government grant for the car being maintained, and the charger being a straightforward install.
As someone said above, I think Kia should already have applied for the grant if you've placed a firm order. I've driven well over 100,000 EV miles - around half in a Gen 1 Leaf and the remainder in a Model S 85 Tesla. During that time I lived in 3 houses and used 3 pin 10A (with the Leaf and Tesla), 3.5kW / 16A (Leaf and Tesla) and 32A / 7kW (Tesla) charging options. My thoughts are:
- Faster home charging is better, but not essential.
- With a small battery EV like the 2012 Leaf, faster charging is more important as you have much less battery "buffer".
- I ran the Tesla on 3 pin 10A for nearly a year (in a temporary rental house) and it was fine - only once did I need 7kW (when I arrived home late after a long journey with low battery and had to do the same journey again early the next morning).
- If you do use 3 pin, make sure the house wiring is solid all the way back to the main board.
- I'd be OK with 16A if our house supply was limited. We are buying a second EV and plan to move to a 2 x 16A home charger as our 100A supply will not support 2 x 32A.
- Faster home charging is better, but not essential.
- With a small battery EV like the 2012 Leaf, faster charging is more important as you have much less battery "buffer".
- I ran the Tesla on 3 pin 10A for nearly a year (in a temporary rental house) and it was fine - only once did I need 7kW (when I arrived home late after a long journey with low battery and had to do the same journey again early the next morning).
- If you do use 3 pin, make sure the house wiring is solid all the way back to the main board.
- I'd be OK with 16A if our house supply was limited. We are buying a second EV and plan to move to a 2 x 16A home charger as our 100A supply will not support 2 x 32A.
Just kicked of the process of ordering a charger via octupus. I think just having a tethered cable outside is worth it. I'm pretty sure my wiring is solid but installing the charger is cheaper than finding out.
I would have been perfectly happy with the 3 pin had you not got me worried about safety though...
I would have been perfectly happy with the 3 pin had you not got me worried about safety though...
The risk around using 3 pin is the continuous load on the circuit. Any resistance from a poor/loose/corroded connection (could be well upstream of your car and maybe not visible) will become a hot spot and a fire risk. EVs limit 3 pin charging to 10A which helps, but bad house wiring will still likely be a problem. If your house / garage wiring is old or DIY bodged, stay well clear. Anything recent and professionally done should be fine.
https://www.firetrace.com/fire-protection-blog/how...
https://www.firetrace.com/fire-protection-blog/how...
(Apologies to OP. Slightly OT but not worthy of a thread of it's own.)
We're currently (sic) having our 1970 Fiat 500L converted to electric propulsion. I contacted one of those companies (BP) that supply domestic charge points to order a basic, type 2 charge station, expecting to take advantage of the government grant scheme.
Sadly, out dinky little car does not qualify for the grant, as it is not on the approved list and was built before 2016.
It's not a major concern. However, I am slightly disappointed that the scheme does not stretch to cars that have been converted.
We're currently (sic) having our 1970 Fiat 500L converted to electric propulsion. I contacted one of those companies (BP) that supply domestic charge points to order a basic, type 2 charge station, expecting to take advantage of the government grant scheme.
Sadly, out dinky little car does not qualify for the grant, as it is not on the approved list and was built before 2016.
It's not a major concern. However, I am slightly disappointed that the scheme does not stretch to cars that have been converted.
Blib said:
(Apologies to OP. Slightly OT but not worthy of a thread of it's own.)
We're currently (sic) having our 1970 Fiat 500L converted to electric propulsion. I contacted one of those companies (BP) that supply domestic charge points to order a basic, type 2 charge station, expecting to take advantage of the government grant scheme.
Sadly, out dinky little car does not qualify for the grant, as it is not on the approved list and was built before 2016.
It's not a major concern. However, I am slightly disappointed that the scheme does not stretch to cars that have been converted.
Its really just a resource issue for them. They can't look at individual vehicles or cases and so blanket policy everything. In theory there's no reason you shouldn't get the grant.We're currently (sic) having our 1970 Fiat 500L converted to electric propulsion. I contacted one of those companies (BP) that supply domestic charge points to order a basic, type 2 charge station, expecting to take advantage of the government grant scheme.
Sadly, out dinky little car does not qualify for the grant, as it is not on the approved list and was built before 2016.
It's not a major concern. However, I am slightly disappointed that the scheme does not stretch to cars that have been converted.
You aren’t going to get >100A fuse on a domestic supply are you?
Eg https://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/electricity/fuse...
Just get your own charger and have a local spark fit it. That’s what I did, job jobbed.
Eg https://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/electricity/fuse...
Just get your own charger and have a local spark fit it. That’s what I did, job jobbed.
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